A DEVASTATED teenage girl has been told by officials she will have to leave her mum and friends behind in Redcar and return to America.

Haley Espinoza, 17, will be forced to live with her father in Texas, despite her claims that she is “not welcome under his roof” and would have nowhere to go.

Now Haley’s friends and family have launched a rescue mission to keep her on Teesside - but they only have until the end of the month to help Haley launch an appeal.

Haley, a student at Guisborough’s Prior Pursglove College, not only fears losing her mum, stepdad, half-siblings and friends, but also says her efforts towards sitting GCSEs this year will have been wasted.

The teenager, who has ambitions to become a teacher, would have to re-do her final two school years.

She moved to England in September last year, joining her mum Monica McGowan, who has lived in the UK for 10 years, stepdad Adam, sister Holly, nine, and brother Matthew, five.

But her application for a visa to remain in the country was rejected as her father has technical full custody.

A letter sent to Haley initially gave her just three days to make her appeal. This meant she would have had to leave the country tomorrow, but was granted an extension until the end of the month.

Haley said: “I moved here because I missed my mum a lot. I’ve made amazing friends here and love studying here. I don’t want to go back to Texas.”

Mum Monica said: “Her relationship with her dad has been strained for a while. We’ve been trying to get her here since she was 12 but it’s a long process.

"So that her father could deal with things properly, I allowed him to have full custody, though I still have parental rights - I didn’t know then that it would cause this problem.

“Matthew’s a bit young to understand what’s going on but Holly is beside herself.

“The main thing is, this is about Haley’s welfare. She has better prospects here, her quality of life is better, she has a loving family and a very strong support system.”

While her mum looks into the technicalities of appealing the decision, with the help of Redcar MP Ian Swales, Haley’s friends have stepped in to gather support.

College friend Heather Howes, 16, of Redcar, has set up an online petition, on which she wrote: “Haley has made a life for herself here and has nothing positive to return to in Texas.

“Haley is the happiest, bubbliest, most amazing person I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I can’t even begin to describe how much she has affected mine and my friends’ lives. Please do what you can and help us.”

Friend Abby Kennedy, 17, also of Redcar, helped explain why her friends - who have known Haley less than a year - are so passionate about keeping her here.

Fighting back tears, she said: “She’s been a really good friend. She’s supported me when she needed support herself. You’ve never met anyone like Haley, she’s just the nicest person. We share a birthday, on October 20, and I really want to celebrate my 18th with her.”